›_ Codex Issues
Codex Issues / #28457

Codex CLI 0.140.0 standalone Windows launcher cannot resolve sandbox helpers; sandbox fails with helper=codex-windows-sandbox-setup.exe program not found

Open 💬 3 comments Opened Jun 16, 2026 by BaseBlank

What version of Codex CLI is running?

0.140

What subscription do you have?

Chatgpt Pro

Which model were you using?

gpt 5.5 xhigh

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64

What terminal emulator and version are you using (if applicable)?

Windows Terminal

Codex doctor report

{
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "generatedAt": "1781586359s since unix epoch",
  "overallStatus": "warning",
  "codexVersion": "0.140.0",
  "checks": {
    "app_server.status": {
      "id": "app_server.status",
      "category": "app-server",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "background server is not running",
      "details": {
        "control socket": "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\app-server-control\\app-server-control.sock",
        "daemon state dir": "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\app-server-daemon",
        "mode": "ephemeral",
        "pid file": "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\app-server-daemon\\app-server.pid (missing)",
        "settings": "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\app-server-daemon\\settings.json (missing)",
        "status": "not running",
        "update-loop pid file": "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\app-server-daemon\\app-server-updater.pid (missing)"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "auth.credentials": {
      "id": "auth.credentials",
      "category": "auth",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "auth is configured",
      "details": {
        "auth file": "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\auth.json",
        "auth storage mode": "File",
        "stored API key": "false",
        "stored ChatGPT tokens": "true",
        "stored agent identity": "false",
        "stored auth mode": "chatgpt"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "config.load": {
      "id": "config.load",
      "category": "config",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "config loaded",
      "details": {
        "CODEX_HOME": "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex",
        "config.toml": "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\config.toml",
        "config.toml parse": "ok",
        "cwd": "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]",
        "enabled feature flags": "<redacted>",
        "feature flag overrides": "none",
        "feature flags enabled": "29",
        "log dir": "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\log",
        "mcp servers": "1",
        "model": "gpt-5.5",
        "model provider": "openai",
        "sqlite home": "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "git.environment": {
      "id": "git.environment",
      "category": "git",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "git version 2.54.0.windows.1",
      "details": {
        "PATH git #1": "C:\\Program Files\\Git\\cmd\\git.exe",
        "PATH git entries": "1",
        "git build options": "git version 2.54.0.windows.1; cpu: x86_64; built from commit: 2b8a3ab140826ac423c2845ef81d4c6ac4f7bf3c; sizeof-long: 4; sizeof-size_t: 8; shell-path: D:/git-sdk-64-build-installers/usr/bin/sh; rust: disabled; feature: fsmonitor--daemon; gettext: enabled; libcurl: 8.19.0; OpenSSL: OpenSSL 3.5.6 7 Apr 2026; zlib: 1.3.2; SHA-1: SHA1_DC; SHA-256: SHA256_BLK; default-ref-format: files; default-hash: sha1",
        "git exec path": "C:/Program Files/Git/mingw64/libexec/git-core",
        "git version": "git version 2.54.0.windows.1",
        "repo detected": "false",
        "selected git": "C:\\Program Files\\Git\\cmd\\git.exe"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 177
    },
    "installation": {
      "id": "installation",
      "category": "install",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "installation looks consistent",
      "details": {
        "PATH codex #1": "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\OpenAI\\Codex\\bin\\codex.exe",
        "current executable": "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\OpenAI\\Codex\\bin\\codex.exe",
        "install context": "standalone (windows, package C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\packages\\standalone\\releases\\0.140.0-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc, bin C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\packages\\standalone\\releases\\0.140.0-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\bin, resources C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\packages\\standalone\\releases\\0.140.0-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\codex-resources, path C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\packages\\standalone\\releases\\0.140.0-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\codex-path)",
        "managed by bun": "false",
        "managed by npm": "false",
        "managed package root": "not set"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 102
    },
    "mcp.config": {
      "id": "mcp.config",
      "category": "mcp",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "MCP configuration is locally consistent",
      "details": {
        "configured servers": "1",
        "disabled servers": "0",
        "streamable_http servers": "1"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 1444
    },
    "network.env": {
      "id": "network.env",
      "category": "network",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "network-related environment looks readable",
      "details": {
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "network.provider_reachability": {
      "id": "network.provider_reachability",
      "category": "reachability",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "active provider endpoints are reachable over HTTP",
      "details": {
        "ChatGPT base URL": "https://chatgpt.com/backend-api/ reachable (HTTP 403)",
        "reachability mode": "ChatGPT auth"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 1106
    },
    "network.websocket_reachability": {
      "id": "network.websocket_reachability",
      "category": "websocket",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "Responses WebSocket handshake succeeded",
      "details": {
        "DNS": "1 IPv4, 0 IPv6, first IPv4",
        "auth mode": "chatgpt",
        "connect timeout": "15000 ms",
        "endpoint": "wss://chatgpt.com/backend-api/<redacted>",
        "handshake result": "HTTP 101 Switching Protocols",
        "model provider": "openai",
        "models etag present": "true",
        "provider name": "OpenAI",
        "reasoning header": "false",
        "server model present": "false",
        "supports websockets": "true",
        "wire API": "responses"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 1480
    },
    "runtime.provenance": {
      "id": "runtime.provenance",
      "category": "runtime",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "running standalone on windows-x86_64",
      "details": {
        "commit": "unknown",
        "current executable": "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\OpenAI\\Codex\\bin\\codex.exe",
        "install method": "standalone (windows, package C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\packages\\standalone\\releases\\0.140.0-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc, bin C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\packages\\standalone\\releases\\0.140.0-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\bin, resources C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\packages\\standalone\\releases\\0.140.0-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\codex-resources, path C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\packages\\standalone\\releases\\0.140.0-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\codex-path)",
        "platform": "windows-x86_64",
        "version": "0.140.0"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "runtime.search": {
      "id": "runtime.search",
      "category": "search",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "search is OK (bundled)",
      "details": {
        "search command": "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\packages\\standalone\\releases\\0.140.0-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\codex-path\\rg.exe",
        "search command readiness": "file exists",
        "search provider": "bundled"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "sandbox.helpers": {
      "id": "sandbox.helpers",
      "category": "sandbox",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "sandbox configuration is readable",
      "details": {
        "approval policy": "OnRequest",
        "codex-linux-sandbox helper": "none",
        "execve wrapper helper": "none",
        "filesystem sandbox": "restricted",
        "network sandbox": "enabled"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "state.paths": {
      "id": "state.paths",
      "category": "state",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "state paths and databases are inspectable",
      "details": {
        "CODEX_HOME": "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex (dir)",
        "active rollout files": "120 files, 133079169 total bytes, 1108993 average bytes",
        "archived rollout files": "0 files, 0 total bytes, 0 average bytes",
        "goals DB": "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\goals_1.sqlite (file)",
        "goals DB integrity": "ok",
        "log DB": "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\logs_2.sqlite (file)",
        "log DB integrity": "ok",
        "log dir": "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\log (dir)",
        "memories DB": "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\memories_1.sqlite (file)",
        "memories DB integrity": "ok",
        "sqlite home": "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex (dir)",
        "standalone release cache": "1 entries in C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\packages\\standalone\\releases",
        "state DB": "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\state_5.sqlite (file)",
        "state DB integrity": "ok"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 266
    },
    "state.rollout_db_parity": {
      "id": "state.rollout_db_parity",
      "category": "threads",
      "status": "warning",
      "summary": "rollout files and state DB thread inventory differ",
      "details": {
        "default model provider": "openai",
        "rollout DB active files": "111",
        "rollout DB active rows": "111",
        "rollout DB archive mismatches": "0",
        "rollout DB archived files": "0",
        "rollout DB archived rows": "0",
        "rollout DB duplicate DB paths": "0",
        "rollout DB duplicate rollout thread ids": "0",
        "rollout DB malformed file names": "0",
        "rollout DB missing active rows": "0",
        "rollout DB missing archived rows": "0",
        "rollout DB model providers": "openai=111",
        "rollout DB rows": "111",
        "rollout DB scan cap reached": "false",
        "rollout DB scan error sample": [
          "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\sessions\\2025\\09\\15\\rollout-2025-09-15T08-10-13-e46890fc-7393-47a4-8fd6-3bef2904f0c2.jsonl (no parseable rollout items)",
          "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\sessions\\2025\\09\\12\\rollout-2025-09-12T20-23-02-2901f9b7-f4fc-4782-a0e9-afb7a76fafdc.jsonl (no parseable rollout items)",
          "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\sessions\\2025\\09\\11\\rollout-2025-09-11T00-09-12-06565b38-6329-4819-b31a-b5c7c8638caa.jsonl (no parseable rollout items)",
          "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\sessions\\2025\\09\\11\\rollout-2025-09-11T00-30-41-25d5df5c-ccce-4b92-bd40-3d56792b3b1e.jsonl (no parseable rollout items)",
          "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\sessions\\2025\\09\\03\\rollout-2025-09-03T21-18-44-48b4a5a0-a5ee-4652-93a6-9a6c1a064268.jsonl (no parseable rollout items)"
        ],
        "rollout DB scan errors": "9",
        "rollout DB sources": "cli=98, vscode=13",
        "rollout DB stale rows": "0"
      },
      "issues": [
        {
          "severity": "warning",
          "cause": "rollout scan was incomplete or found bad files",
          "measured": "9 scan errors, 0 malformed names, scan cap reached: false",
          "expected": "rollout directories are fully scannable",
          "remedy": "Check file permissions and unexpected files under CODEX_HOME sessions.",
          "fields": []
        }
      ],
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 1227
    },
    "system.environment": {
      "id": "system.environment",
      "category": "system",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "OS language zh-CN",
      "details": {
        "EDITOR": "not set",
        "VISUAL": "not set",
        "os": "Windows 10.0.26200 (Windows 11 Professional) [64-bit]",
        "os language": "zh-CN",
        "os type": "Windows",
        "os version": "10.0.26200"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "terminal.env": {
      "id": "terminal.env",
      "category": "terminal",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "terminal metadata was detected",
      "details": {
        "WT_SESSION": "present",
        "color output": "enabled",
        "console input code page": "65001",
        "console output code page": "65001",
        "stderr console mode": "0x00000007 (VT processing: true)",
        "stderr is terminal": "true",
        "stdin is terminal": "true",
        "stdout console mode": "0x00000007 (VT processing: true)",
        "stdout is terminal": "true",
        "terminal": "Windows Terminal",
        "terminal size": "120x30"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "terminal.title": {
      "id": "terminal.title",
      "category": "title",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "terminal title default",
      "details": {
        "terminal title activity": "true",
        "terminal title items": "activity, project-name",
        "terminal title project source": "cwd",
        "terminal title project value": "[REDACTED]",
        "terminal title source": "default"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "updates.status": {
      "id": "updates.status",
      "category": "updates",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "update configuration is locally consistent",
      "details": {
        "cached latest version": "0.140.0",
        "check for update on startup": "true",
        "dismissed version": "0.139.0",
        "last checked at": "2026-06-16T03:16:38.374327500Z",
        "latest version": "0.140.0",
        "latest version status": "current version is not older",
        "update action": "standalone installer",
        "version cache": "C:\\Users\\[REDACTED]\\.codex\\version.json"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 1630
    }
  }
}

What issue are you seeing?

On Codex CLI 0.140.0 for Windows x86_64 installed via the standalone PowerShell installer, launching Codex through the normal codex command causes the Windows sandbox helper setup path to fail.

The active command resolves to:

C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Programs\OpenAI\Codex\bin\codex.exe

However, codex doctor --summary --ascii reports the actual standalone runtime package and resources under:

C:\Users\<USER>\.codex\packages\standalone\releases\0.140.0-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc
C:\Users\<USER>\.codex\packages\standalone\releases\0.140.0-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\codex-resources

The sandbox setup helper exists at:

C:\Users\<USER>\.codex\packages\standalone\current\codex-resources\codex-windows-sandbox-setup.exe

But when using the normal codex entrypoint, the sandbox tries to launch only the bare helper name:

codex-windows-sandbox-setup.exe

and fails with:

windows sandbox failed: orchestrator_helper_launch_failed: setup refresh failed to launch helper: helper=codex-windows-sandbox-setup.exe, cwd=C:\Users\<USER>, log=C:\Users\<USER>\.codex\.sandbox\sandbox.<DATE>.log, error=program not found

The same issue appears inside the TUI when Codex tries to run read-only PowerShell commands:

execution error: Io(Custom { kind: Other, error: "windows sandbox: orchestrator_helper_launch_failed: setup refresh failed to launch helper: helper=codex-windows-sandbox-setup.exe, cwd=<PROJECT_DIR>, log=C:\\Users\\<USER>\\.codex\\.sandbox\\sandbox.<DATE>.log, error=program not found" })

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Environment:

  • Windows 11 x86_64
  • PowerShell 7.x
  • Codex CLI 0.140.0
  • Standalone installation via:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -c "irm https://chatgpt.com/codex/install.ps1 | iex"

Reproduction commands:

  1. Confirm version and entrypoint:

codex --version
where.exe codex
Get-Command codex | Format-List Source,Path,CommandType,Version

Observed:

codex-cli 0.140.0
C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Programs\OpenAI\Codex\bin\codex.exe

  1. Confirm doctor sees the standalone package/resources:

codex doctor --summary --ascii

Observed relevant output:

runtime standalone (windows, package C:\Users\<USER>\.codex\packages\standalone\releases\0.140.0-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc, bin C:\Users\<USER>\.codex\packages\standalone\releases\0.140.0-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\bin, resources C:\Users\<USER>\.codex\packages\standalone\releases\0.140.0-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\codex-resources, path C:\Users\<USER>\.codex\packages\standalone\releases\0.140.0-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\codex-path)
install consistent

  1. Confirm the helper exists in the standalone resource directory:

$resources = "$env:USERPROFILE\.codex\packages\standalone\current\codex-resources"
Test-Path "$resources\codex-windows-sandbox-setup.exe"

Observed:

True

  1. Run the elevated sandbox smoke test through the normal codex entrypoint:

$cmd = "$env:WINDIR\System32\cmd.exe"
codex -c 'windows.sandbox="elevated"' sandbox windows -- $cmd /c echo CODEX_ELEVATED_OK

Observed:

windows sandbox failed: orchestrator_helper_launch_failed: setup refresh failed to launch helper: helper=codex-windows-sandbox-setup.exe, cwd=C:\Users\<USER>, log=C:\Users\<USER>\.codex\.sandbox\sandbox.<DATE>.log, error=program not found

Thread id: N/A. This is a local CLI/sandbox reproduction.

What is the expected behavior?

The normal codex entrypoint should resolve the bundled Windows sandbox helper executables from the active standalone package resource directory.

Expected behavior:

  • codex-windows-sandbox-setup.exe should be located under the active standalone package's codex-resources directory.
  • The sandbox should not fall back to launching a bare codex-windows-sandbox-setup.exe name when the helper exists in the package resources.
  • Running the elevated sandbox smoke test should either succeed or fail with a different actionable sandbox error, not helper=codex-windows-sandbox-setup.exe ... error=program not found.

Expected command result:

codex -c 'windows.sandbox="elevated"' sandbox windows -- "$env:WINDIR\System32\cmd.exe" /c echo CODEX_ELEVATED_OK

Expected output:

CODEX_ELEVATED_OK

Additional information

This appears to be specific to the normal standalone launcher entrypoint.

Normal launcher:

C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Programs\OpenAI\Codex\bin\codex.exe

Actual standalone package binary:

C:\Users\<USER>\.codex\packages\standalone\current\bin\codex.exe

Launching the real package binary directly works better in the TUI:

$pkg = "$env:USERPROFILE\.codex\packages\standalone\current"
& "$pkg\bin\codex.exe"

This suggests the sandbox helper lookup may be anchored to the visible launcher path rather than the actual standalone package path that codex doctor reports.

Additional diagnostic:

If I temporarily prepend the package resource directory to PATH:

$resources = "$env:USERPROFILE\.codex\packages\standalone\current\codex-resources"
$env:PATH = "$resources;$env:PATH"

then codex-windows-sandbox-setup.exe becomes discoverable and the setup helper runs. The sandbox then progresses further but later reports another helper-resolution/runner failure:

helper copy failed for command-runner: helper not found next to current executable or under codex-resources: C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Programs\OpenAI\Codex\bin\codex.exe; falling back to legacy path codex-command-runner.exe

followed by:

CreateProcessWithLogonW failed: 2

This looks like the same resource-resolution issue may also affect codex-command-runner.exe.

A clean reinstall of the standalone package did not resolve the normal codex launcher behavior. The install still reports as consistent in codex doctor.

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